June has arrived in Ontario, and with the coming of summer also comes the postings for September teaching opportunities. A number of the boards have begun to post their vacencies, full time and contract, thus opening the flood gates for resumes from hopeful teachers. Sadly, what these ambitious young newcomers will face is litte in the way of satisfactory employment. From my conversations with teachers at schools who have postings online for ‘vacancies’ in September, 4 out of 5 of these positions are already filled by a promise to a current supply teacher or LTO contract worker.
By all means these individuals who have worked in the school, who understand its politics and methods of business, should be at the top of the list. If I was in their position I’d appreciate the priority treatment. I’m also confident that these teachers are being promised the position because they are good teachers. And that is part of the conundrum — if you are already in a school then the system can work in your favour, but if you are trying to get in, the system is only able to block your way. This creates frustration for teachers seeking a ‘foot in the door’ as they are forced to cling to these false hopes of employment that border on outright lies. I’ve talked to a number of newly trained teachers who express joy in the fact that 4 new math positions were posted online today, or 2 new science positions, or maybe a grade 7 core. The sad truth is they’ll be lucky to get an interview let alone a job offer.
Why must we post these positions when the schools have little to no intention of actually hiring an outside individual? Why waste the resources, not to mention the demorailzing effect it has on new teachers. Why promise the carrot that dangles on a stick just out of reach?
